Method and device for learning generating lane departure warning (ldw) alarm by referring to information on driving situation to be used for adas, v2x or driver safety required to satisfy level 4 and level 5 of autonomous vehicles

ABSTRACT

A method for generating a lane departure warning (LDW) alarm by referring to information on a driving situation is provided to be used for ADAS, V2X or driver safety which are required to satisfy level 4 and level 5 of autonomous vehicles. The method includes steps of: a computing device instructing a LDW system (i) to collect information on the driving situation including information on whether a specific spot corresponding to a side mirror on a side of a lane, into which the driver desires to change, belongs to a virtual viewing frustum of the driver and (ii) to generate risk information on lane change by referring to the information on the driving situation; and instructing the LDW system to generate the LDW alarm by referring to the risk information. Thus, the LDW alarm can be provided to neighboring autonomous vehicles of level 4 and level 5.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/263,220, filed 31 Jan. 2019, the entirety of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a method and a device for use with anautonomous vehicle; and more particularly, to the method and the devicefor generating a lane departure warning (LDW) alarm by referring toinformation on a driving situation.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the last 2015, about 1,747,000 traffic accidents occurred in theUnited States. At this time, 35,092 people were killed by trafficaccidents. The number of deaths per 10,000 vehicles was 1.2 and thenumber of traffic accidents per 100,000 people was 10.9, which is thehighest death rate among OECD countries. As can be seen from thestatistics above, the problem of traffic accidents in the United Statesis very serious and it will be very important to prevent them.

Traffic accidents during lane changes occupy a high percentage among theentire traffic accidents. If one does not take a good look around whenchanging lanes, his or her vehicle is prone to collide with the cars inthe surrounding lanes. Therefore, it is necessary to warn the driver ofdangers when changing lanes.

However, a conventional lane departure warning (LDW) system merelydetects whether a vehicle deviates from the lane but does not detectwhether the driver takes a good look around during the lane change.Further, even when giving a warning to the driver, it is performed in amonotonous way, and thus it cannot satisfy needs generated by variousdriving environments.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is an object of the present disclosure to solve all theaforementioned problems.

It is another object of the present disclosure to reduce an accidentprobability of a driver by generating a lane departure warning (LDW)alarm by referring to whether a specific spot corresponding to aside-view mirror on a side of a lane, into which the driver desires tochange, belongs to a virtual viewing frustum of the driver.

It is still another object of the present disclosure to send a warningsignal to the driver more efficiently by adjusting an intensity and afrequency of the LDW alarm by referring to types of lanes or those oflane markings.

It is still yet another object of the present disclosure to guide a safelane changing point by generating the LDW alarm for the driver byreferring to GPS information on a destination and on a junction.

In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a method for generating a lane departure warning (LDW) alarm byreferring to information on a driving situation, including steps of: (a)a computing device, if information on a driver's lane changing intentionis acquired, instructing a lane departure warning (LDW) system (i) tocollect information on the driving situation including information onwhether a specific spot corresponding to a side mirror on a side of alane, into which the driver desires to change, belongs to a virtualviewing frustum of the driver and (ii) to generate risk information onlane change by referring to the information on the driving situation;and (b) the computing device instructing the LDW system to generate theLDW alarm by referring to the risk information on the lane change.

As one example, at the step of (a), on condition that it is detectedthat (i) a first viewing event, in which a vertical distance between acentral axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is within a first threshold distance,is generated a specific number of times corresponding to a first rangewithin a first threshold time from a point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror exceeds the first threshold distance and is within a secondthreshold distance, is generated a certain number of times correspondingto a second range within the first threshold time from the point of timeof acquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention,the computing device instructs the LDW system to generate the riskinformation on the lane change, wherein a median value of the secondrange is greater than that of the first range.

As one example, at the step of (a), the computing device instructs theLDW system to collect information on the driving situation additionallyincluding information on a road situation, and, at the step of (b), thecomputing device instructs the LDW system to adjust an intensity and afrequency of the LDW alarm by referring to the risk information on thelane change on which the information on the road situation is reflected.

As one example, at the step of (a), the information on the roadsituation includes information on shapes or colors of one or more lanemarkings located on at least one of both sides of the driver's vehicle,wherein the computing device instructs the LDW system to (i) determineat least one type of the lanes by referring to the information on theshapes or the colors of the lane markings and (ii) generate the riskinformation on the lane change on which information on the determinedtype of the lane markings is reflected.

As one example, at the step of (a), the computing device instructs theLDW system to set a degree of danger, included in the risk informationon the lane change when a classification of the lane markings of thelane into which the driver desires to change is a k-th level, to behigher than a degree of danger, included in the risk information on thelane change when the classification of the lane markings of the laneinto which the driver desires to change is a (k+1)-th level.

As one example, at the step of (a), (1) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) a firstviewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated a firstspecific number of times corresponding to a (1_1)-st range within afirst threshold time from a point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a second viewing event,in which a vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris greater than the first threshold distance and is less than a secondthreshold distance, is generated a second specific number of timescorresponding to a (2_1)-st range within the first threshold time fromthe point of time of acquiring the information on the driver's lanechanging intention, the computing device instructs the LDW system togenerate the risk information on the lane change including a degree ofdanger corresponding to a first risk range, (2) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the (k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) afirst viewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated athird specific number of times corresponding to a (1_2)-nd range withinthe first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is lessthan the second threshold distance, is generated a fourth specificnumber of times corresponding to a (2_2)-nd range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the risk information on the lane change includinga degree of danger corresponding to a second risk range, wherein (i) amedian value of the (2_1)-st range is greater than that of the (1_1)-strange, (ii) a median value of (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the(1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st range is equal toor greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range,and (v) a median value of the first risk range is equal to or greaterthan that of the second risk range.

As one example, at the step of (a), (1) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) thefirst viewing event, in which the vertical distance between the centralaxis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot correspondingto the side mirror is within the first threshold distance, is generatedless than a fifth specific number of times corresponding to the (1_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention or(ii) the second viewing event, in which the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is greater than the first thresholddistance and is less than the second threshold distance, is generatedless than a sixth specific number of times corresponding to the (2_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention, thecomputing device instructs the LDW system to generate the riskinformation on the lane change including a degree of danger within athird risk range, (2) on condition that the classification of the lanemarkings of the lane into which the driver desires to change is the(k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) the first viewing event, inwhich the vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris within the first threshold distance, is generated less than a seventhspecific number of times corresponding to the (1_2)-nd range within thefirst threshold time from the point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) the second viewingevent, in which the vertical distance between the central axis of thevirtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the sidemirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is less than thesecond threshold distance, is generated less than an eighth specificnumber of times corresponding to the (2_2)-nd range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the risk information on the lane change includinga degree of danger within a fourth risk range, wherein (i) the medianvalue of the (2_1)-st range is greater than that of the (1_1)-st range,(ii) the median value of (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the(1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st range is equal toor greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range,(v) a median value of the third risk range is equal to or greater thanthat of the fourth risk range, (vi) the median value of the fourth riskrange is greater than that of the second risk range, and (vii) themedian value of the third risk range is equal to or greater than that ofthe first risk range.

As one example, at the step of (a), the information on the roadsituation includes types of lanes where the driver's vehicle is located,and the computing device instructs the LDW system to determine a degreeof danger when the driver changes the lane and to generate the riskinformation on the lane change including the degree of danger.

As one example, before the step of (a), a destination of the driver'svehicle is inputted to a global positioning system (GPS) module includedin the computing device, and, at the step of (a), the computing device(1) acquires a potential intention related to the lane change byreferring to information on the destination and on a junction existingwithin a predetermined distance from a current location of the driver'svehicle and determines the acquired potential intention as theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention and (2) instructsthe LDW system to (i) collect the information on the driving situationadditionally including location information on at least one specificlane moving to the destination, (ii) determine a triggering spot wherethe lane change is to be started to enter the specific lane, and (iii)generate the risk information on the lane change on which a result ofthe determined triggering spot is reflected.

As one example, at the step of (a), the computing device acquires apotential intention related to the lane change by referring toinformation on a destination of the driver's vehicle and a junctionexisting within a predetermined distance from a current location of thedriver's vehicle and determines the acquired potential intention as theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention; at the step of (a),on condition that (I) (i) a first probability group, which is a set ofprobabilities of test vehicles moving from the junction to thedestination through a first route, varies according to a distancebetween the junction and the current location, and includes each offirst sub-probabilities allocated to each of lanes, and (ii) a secondprobability group, which is a set of probabilities of the test vehiclesmoving from the junction to the destination through a second route,varies according to a distance between the junction and the currentlocation, and includes each of second sub-probabilities allocated toeach of lanes, have been collected during a predetermined time, and (II)the information on the driving situation additionally including (i)location information on a first specific lane on which the test vehiclesfor moving to the destination through the first route were driving, thelocation information on the first specific lane varying according to thedistance between the junction and each of current locations of each ofthe test vehicles and (ii) location information on a second specificlane on which the test vehicles for moving to the destination throughthe second route were driving, the location information on the secondspecific lane varying according to the distance between the junction andeach of the current locations of each of the test vehicles, have beencollected, the computing device instructs the LDW system to generate inreal-time the risk information on the lane change including at leastpart of first risk information on the lane change and second riskinformation on the lane change, which are determined by referring to (i)real-time first comparison information between a current lane of thedriver's vehicle and the first specific lane, (ii) real-time secondcomparison information between the current lane of the driver's vehicleand the second specific lane, and (iii) the first probability group andthe second probability group, by using real-time weight informationgiven to the first comparison information and the second comparisoninformation; and, at the step of (b), the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the LDW alarm by referring to at least part ofthe first risk information on the lane change and the second riskinformation on the lane change.

As one example, at the step of (a), the information on the driver's lanechanging intention is acquired by referring to information on at leastone direction indicator operated by the driver.

As one example, at the step of (a), the virtual viewing frustum isgenerated by referring to at least one image acquired by a cameraattached to the side mirror.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a computing device for generating a lane departure warning(LDW) alarm by referring to information on a driving situation,including: at least one memory that stores instructions; and at leastone processor configured to execute the instructions to: performprocesses of (I) if information on a driver's lane changing intention isacquired, instructing a lane departure warning (LDW) system (i) tocollect information on the driving situation including information onwhether a specific spot corresponding to a side mirror on a side of alane, into which the driver desires to change, belongs to a virtualviewing frustum of the driver and (ii) to generate risk information onlane change by referring to the information on the driving situation,and (II) instructing the LDW system to generate the LDW alarm byreferring to the risk information on the lane change.

As one example, at the process of (I), on condition that it is detectedthat (i) a first viewing event, in which a vertical distance between acentral axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is within a first threshold distance,is generated a specific number of times corresponding to a first rangewithin a first threshold time from a point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror exceeds the first threshold distance and is within a secondthreshold distance, is generated a certain number of times correspondingto a second range within the first threshold time from the point of timeof acquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention,the processor instructs the LDW system to generate the risk informationon the lane change, wherein a median value of the second range isgreater than that of the first range.

As one example, at the process of (I), the processor instructs the LDWsystem to collect information on the driving situation additionallyincluding information on a road situation, and, at the process of (II),the processor instructs the LDW system to adjust an intensity and afrequency of the LDW alarm by referring to the risk information on thelane change on which the information on the road situation is reflected.

As one example, at the process of (I), the information on the roadsituation includes information on shapes or colors of one or more lanemarkings located on at least one of both sides of the driver's vehicle,wherein the processor instructs the LDW system to (i) determine at leastone type of the lanes by referring to the information on the shapes orthe colors of the lane markings and (ii) generate the risk informationon the lane change on which information on the determined type of thelane markings is reflected.

As one example, at the process of (I), the processor instructs the LDWsystem to set a degree of danger, included in the risk information onthe lane change when a classification of the lane markings of the laneinto which the driver desires to change is a k-th level, to be higherthan a degree of danger, included in the risk information on the lanechange when the classification of the lane markings of the lane intowhich the driver desires to change is a (k+1)-th level.

As one example, at the process of (I), (1) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) a firstviewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated a firstspecific number of times corresponding to a (1_1)-st range within afirst threshold time from a point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a second viewing event,in which a vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris greater than the first threshold distance and is less than a secondthreshold distance, is generated a second specific number of timescorresponding to a (2_1)-st range within the first threshold time fromthe point of time of acquiring the information on the driver's lanechanging intention, the processor instructs the LDW system to generatethe risk information on the lane change including a degree of dangercorresponding to a first risk range, (2) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the (k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) afirst viewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated athird specific number of times corresponding to a (1_2)-nd range withinthe first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is lessthan the second threshold distance, is generated a fourth specificnumber of times corresponding to a (2_2)-nd range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the processor instructs the LDWsystem to generate the risk information on the lane change including adegree of danger corresponding to a second risk range, wherein (i) amedian value of the (2_1)-st range is greater than that of the (1_1)-strange, (ii) a median value of (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the(1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st range is equal toor greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range,and (v) a median value of the first risk range is equal to or greaterthan that of the second risk range.

As one example, at the process of (I), (1) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) thefirst viewing event, in which the vertical distance between the centralaxis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot correspondingto the side mirror is within the first threshold distance, is generatedless than a fifth specific number of times corresponding to the (1_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention or(ii) the second viewing event, in which the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is greater than the first thresholddistance and is less than the second threshold distance, is generatedless than a sixth specific number of times corresponding to the (2_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention, theprocessor instructs the LDW system to generate the risk information onthe lane change including a degree of danger within a third risk range,(2) on condition that the classification of the lane markings of thelane into which the driver desires to change is the (k+1)-th level, ifit is detected that (i) the first viewing event, in which the verticaldistance between the central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and thespecific spot corresponding to the side mirror is within the firstthreshold distance, is generated less than a seventh specific number oftimes corresponding to the (1_2)-nd range within the first thresholdtime from the point of time of acquiring the information on the driver'slane changing intention or (ii) the second viewing event, in which thevertical distance between the central axis of the virtual viewingfrustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirror isgreater than the first threshold distance and is less than the secondthreshold distance, is generated less than an eighth specific number oftimes corresponding to the (2_2)-nd range within the first thresholdtime from the point of time of acquiring the information on the driver'slane changing intention, the processor instructs the LDW system togenerate the risk information on the lane change including a degree ofdanger within a fourth risk range, wherein (i) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is greater than that of the (1_1)-st range, (ii) themedian value of (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the (1_2)-ndrange, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st range is equal to orgreater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range,(v) a median value of the third risk range is equal to or greater thanthat of the fourth risk range, (vi) the median value of the fourth riskrange is greater than that of the second risk range, and (vii) themedian value of the third risk range is equal to or greater than that ofthe first risk range.

As one example, at the process of (I), the information on the roadsituation includes types of lanes where the driver's vehicle is located,and the processor instructs the LDW system to determine a degree ofdanger when the driver changes the lane and to generate the riskinformation on the lane change including the degree of danger.

As one example, before the process of (I), a destination of the driver'svehicle is inputted to a global positioning system (GPS) module includedtherein, and, at the process of (I), the processor (1) acquires apotential intention related to the lane change by referring toinformation on the destination and on a junction existing within apredetermined distance from a current location of the driver's vehicleand determines the acquired potential intention as the information onthe driver's lane changing intention and (2) instructs the LDW system to(i) collect the information on the driving situation additionallyincluding location information on at least one specific lane moving tothe destination, (ii) determine a triggering spot where the lane changeis to be started to enter the specific lane, and (iii) generate the riskinformation on the lane change on which a result of the determinedtriggering spot is reflected.

As one example, at the process of (I), the processor acquires apotential intention related to the lane change by referring toinformation on a destination of the driver's vehicle and a junctionexisting within a predetermined distance from a current location of thedriver's vehicle and determines the acquired potential intention as theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention; at the process of(I), on condition that (I) (i) a first probability group, which is a setof probabilities of test vehicles moving from the junction to thedestination through a first route, varies according to a distancebetween the junction and the current location, and includes each offirst sub-probabilities allocated to each of lanes, and (ii) a secondprobability group, which is a set of probabilities of the test vehiclesmoving from the junction to the destination through a second route,varies according to a distance between the junction and the currentlocation, and includes each of second sub-probabilities allocated toeach of lanes, have been collected during a predetermined time, and (II)the information on the driving situation additionally including (i)location information on a first specific lane on which the test vehiclesfor moving to the destination through the first route were driving, thelocation information on the first specific lane varying according to thedistance between the junction and each of current locations of each ofthe test vehicles and (ii) location information on a second specificlane on which the test vehicles for moving to the destination throughthe second route were driving, the location information on the secondspecific lane varying according to the distance between the junction andeach of the current locations of each of the test vehicles, have beencollected, the processor instructs the LDW system to generate inreal-time the risk information on the lane change including at leastpart of first risk information on the lane change and second riskinformation on the lane change, which are determined by referring to (i)real-time first comparison information between a current lane of thedriver's vehicle and the first specific lane, (ii) real-time secondcomparison information between the current lane of the driver's vehicleand the second specific lane, and (iii) the first probability group andthe second probability group, by using real-time weight informationgiven to the first comparison information and the second comparisoninformation; and at the process of (II), the processor instructs the LDWsystem to generate the LDW alarm by referring to at least part of thefirst risk information on the lane change and the second riskinformation on the lane change.

As one example, at the process of (I), the information on the driver'slane changing intention is acquired by referring to information on atleast one direction indicator operated by the driver.

As one example, at the process of (I), the virtual viewing frustum isgenerated by referring to at least one image acquired by a cameraattached to the side mirror.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the present disclosure willbecome apparent from the following description of preferred embodimentsgiven in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating a configuration of a computing devicefor performing a method of generating a lane departure warning (LDW)alarm by referring to information on a driving situation in accordancewith one example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating a virtual viewing frustum from adriver's point of view in accordance with one example embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a process of calculating a verticaldistance for determining whether a specific point corresponding to aside mirror belongs to the virtual viewing frustum in accordance withone example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating shapes of lane markings on at least oneof both sides of the driver's vehicle among information collected by anLDW system in accordance with one example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a drawing illustrating a type of a lane, e.g., a merged lane,among information collected by the LDW system in accordance with oneexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a drawing illustrating a case in which a vehicle needs tochange lanes to move from a predetermined junction in a directiontowards the destination in accordance with one example embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a drawing illustrating an example of generating an LDW alarmby using probability information allocated to each lane varyingaccording to a distance between a junction and a current location of avehicle, in case there are a straight route and a right turn route asroutes to the destination in accordance with one example embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a drawing specifically illustrating a scheme of referring toprobability information allocated for each lane when there are aplurality of routes to the destination in accordance with one exampleembodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Detailed explanation on the present disclosure to be made below refer toattached drawings and diagrams illustrated as specific embodimentexamples under which the present disclosure may be implemented to makeclear of purposes, technical solutions, and advantages of the presentdisclosure. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure.

Besides, in the detailed description and claims of the presentdisclosure, a term “include” and its variations are not intended toexclude other technical features, additions, components or steps. Otherobjects, benefits, and features of the present disclosure will berevealed to one skilled in the art, partially from the specification andpartially from the implementation of the present disclosure. Thefollowing examples and drawings will be provided as examples but theyare not intended to limit the present disclosure.

Moreover, the present disclosure covers all possible combinations ofexample embodiments indicated in this specification. It is to beunderstood that the various embodiments of the present disclosure,although different, are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example,a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described herein inconnection with one embodiment may be implemented within otherembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, it is to be understood that the position orarrangement of individual elements within each disclosed embodiment maybe modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure isdefined only by the appended claims, appropriately interpreted, alongwith the full range of equivalents to which the claims are entitled. Inthe drawings, like numerals refer to the same or similar functionalitythroughout the several views.

Any images referred to in the present disclosure may include imagesrelated to any roads paved or unpaved, in which case the objects on theroads or near the roads may include vehicles, persons, animals, plants,buildings, flying objects like planes or drones, or any other obstacleswhich may appear in a road-related scene, but the scope of the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto. As another example, said any imagesreferred to in the present disclosure may include images not related toany roads, such as images related to alleyway, land lots, sea, lakes,rivers, mountains, forests, deserts, sky, or any indoor space, in whichcase the objects in said any images may include vehicles, persons,animals, plants, buildings, flying objects like planes or drones, ships,amphibious planes or ships, or any other obstacles which may appear in ascene related to alleyway, land lots, sea, lakes, rivers, mountains,forests, deserts, sky, or any indoor space, but the scope of the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

To allow those skilled in the art to the present disclosure to becarried out easily, the example embodiments of the present disclosure byreferring to attached diagrams will be explained in detail as shownbelow.

FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating a configuration of a computing devicefor performing a method of generating a lane departure warning (LDW)alarm by referring to information on a driving situation in accordancewith one example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, a computing device 100 may include an LDW system200 and a GPS module 300. The input and output processes and thecalculation processes of the LDW system 200 and the GPS module 300 canbe performed by a communication part 110 and a processor 120,respectively. However, a detailed connection between the communicationpart 110 and the processor 120 is omitted in FIG. 1. In addition, acamera module 400 may or may not be included in the computing device100. Herein, the computing device 100 and the camera module 400 mayexchange data with each other. Further, the computing device may furtherinclude a memory 115 capable of storing computer readable instructionsfor performing following processes. As one example, the processor, thememory, a medium, etc. may be integrated with an integrated processor.

The configuration of a computing device capable of performing the methodof generating the LDW alarm by referring to the information on thedriving situation in accordance with one example embodiment of thepresent disclosure has been described above. Hereinafter, the method ofgenerating the LDW alarm of the present disclosure will be described indetail.

First, the communication unit 110 can acquire information on a driver'slane changing intention. Since the present disclosure is basicallyperformed in a situation where the driver intends to change lanes, theinformation on the lane changing intention should be obtained. This maybe obtained by referring to information on whether a direction indicatoris operated by the driver, or may be obtained by referring toinformation on a destination and a junction, inputted through UIprovided by the GPS module 300, but the present disclosure is notlimited to this example.

Thereafter, the computing device 100 instructs the LDW system 200 tocollect information on the driving situation including information onwhether a specific spot corresponding to a side mirror on a side of alane, into which the driver desires to change, belongs to a virtualviewing frustum of the driver.

The virtual viewing frustum will be described by referring to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating a virtual viewing frustum (displayed asdotted lines) from a driver's point of view in accordance with oneexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

A quadrangular pyramid cut at the top side thereof in FIG. 2 is a shapeof the virtual viewing frustum. This is the modeling of the driver'sfield of view. It can be determined that, as the vertical distancebetween an object and the central axis of the virtual viewing frustumbecomes smaller, the driver is more accurately gazing at the object. Itcan also be determined that, as the vertical distance between the objectand the central axis becomes greater, the driver is less accuratelygazing at the object.

Such a virtual viewing frustum can be estimated by the computing device100 by referring to an image including a driver obtained by the cameramodule 400 mounted on the side mirror. The computing device 100 canrecognize the driver's head direction and pupil direction to therebygenerate the virtual viewing frustum.

It is possible to determine whether the driver accurately gazes at theside mirror by detecting viewing events, which are events in which thevertical distance between the center axis of the virtual viewing frustumand the side mirror is equal to or less than a predetermined thresholddistance.

Specifically, on condition that it is detected that (i) a first viewingevent, in which a vertical distance between a central axis of thevirtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the sidemirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated a specificnumber of times corresponding to a first range within a first thresholdtime from a point of time of acquiring the information on the driver'slane changing intention or (ii) a second viewing event, in which avertical distance between the central axis of the virtual viewingfrustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirror exceedsthe first threshold distance and is within a second threshold distance,is generated a certain number of times corresponding to a second rangewithin the first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention, the computingdevice instructs the LDW system to generate the risk information on lanechange. Herein, a median value of the second range is greater than thatof the first range. For example, if the first range includes 1 to 2times, the second range may include 3 to 5 times. If the first rangeincludes 1 to 4 times, the second range may include 3 to 6 times.

The first viewing event is a case where the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is within the first threshold distance.This is a case where the driver is accurately gazing at the side mirror.The second viewing event is a case where the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror exceeds the first threshold distanceand is within the second threshold distance. This is a case where thedriver is looking at the side mirror from the corner of his or her eyes.

When the driver is looking at the side mirror from the corner of his orher eyes, the driver should generate the second viewing event much morethan the first viewing event to clearly recognize the surroundingsituation of the vehicle.

The scheme of calculating the vertical distance between the central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror will be described by referring to FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, the central axis of the virtual viewing frustum isshown. The specific point of the side mirror may be the central point ofthe side mirror as shown in FIG. 3 and may also be a location (notshown) of the camera module 400 attached to the side mirror, but thepresent disclosure is not limited to this example. Likewise, as shown inFIG. 3, the shortest distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific point of the side mirror may becalculated, and thus the first viewing event or the second viewing eventcan be detected.

If (i) the first viewing event is generated the specific number of timescorresponding to the first range or (ii) the second viewing event isgenerated the certain number of times corresponding to the second range,it can be determined that the driver has sufficiently checked thesurrounding situation of the vehicle. As such, the computing device 100can instruct the LDW system 200 to generate risk information on lanechange having a relatively low risk. Herein, if both the first viewingevent and the second viewing event are not generated up to the specificnumber of times and the certain number of times respectively, it can bedetermined that the driver has not sufficiently checked the surroundingsituation of the vehicle, and thus the computing device 100 may instructthe LDW system 200 to generate risk information on lane change having arelatively high risk.

If the risk information is generated according to the above scheme, thecomputing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 to generate an LDWalarm by referring to the risk information on lane change. Whenreferring to the risk information on lane change having a relativelyhigh risk, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 togenerate the LDW alarm, and when referring to the risk information onlane change having a relatively low risk, the computing device 100 mayinstruct the LDW system 200 not to generate the LDW alarm or to generatethe LDW alarm very slightly. It is also possible to set a predeterminedvalue and it may be determined whether to generate the LDW alarmaccording to whether the risk is equal to or greater than thepredetermined value, but the present disclosure is not limited to theseexamples.

According to the above-described embodiment of the present disclosure,the LDW alarm is generated by determining whether the user isappropriately gazing at the side mirror. As another example, the LDWalarm may also be generated by utilizing extrinsic information, whichwill be described below.

First of all, information on the driving situation may additionallyinclude information on the road situation as well as informationassociated with the virtual viewing frustum. The information on the roadsituation may include information on shapes or colors of lane markingslocated on both sides of the driver's vehicle. Herein, the computingdevice 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 to (i) determine at least onetype of the lane markings by referring to shape or color information ofthe lane markings and (ii) generate the risk information on lane changeon which information on the determined type of the lane markings isreflected.

The process of determining the types of the lane markings will bedescribed by referring to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating shapes of lane markings on both sidesof the driver's vehicle among information collected by the LDW system inaccordance with one example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, there are various types of the lane markings suchas a solid line lane where lane change is not allowed, a general dottedlane, a two-line lane which is a centerline, and a half-dotted linewhich allows a vehicle to move from left to right only. The risks of thelane change are very different depending on the types of these lanesmarkings. The types of the lane markings may be determined by checkingshapes and colors thereof. In case of the general dotted lane, the lanechange is allowed, and thus it may be determined that the risk isrelatively low. On the other hand, a yellow two-line lane is acenterline, and thus it may be determined that the risk is very high.Likewise, a degree of danger included in the risk information on thelane change may be set by referring to the types of the lane markings.

Namely, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 to setthe degree of danger, included in the risk information on the lanechange when a classification of the lane into which the driver desiresto change is a k-th level, to be higher than a degree of danger,included in the risk information on the lane change when theclassification of the lane into which the driver desires to change is a(k+1)-th level.

It is also possible to perform the method of generating the LDW alarm byusing the types of the lane markings and by further using the scheme ofdetermining whether the driver is gazing at the side mirror as shown inFIG. 3. Namely, the computing device 100 may determine a level of a laneby referring to its shape and its color and set a high degree of dangerto a lane having a high level. Further, the computing device 100 maydetermine more strictly whether the driver is gazing at the side mirror.

Namely, (1) on condition that the level of the lane into which thedriver desires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) afirst viewing event, in which the vertical distance between the centralaxis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot correspondingto the side mirror is within the first threshold distance, is generateda first specific number of times corresponding to a (1_1)-st rangewithin a first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which the vertical distance between the central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is lessthan the second threshold distance, is generated a second specificnumber of times corresponding to a (2_1)-st range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the risk information on the lane change, the riskinformation including a degree of danger corresponding to a first riskrange, and (2) on condition that the level of the lane into which thedriver desires to change is the (k+1)-th level, if it is detected that(i) the first viewing event, in which the vertical distance between thecentral axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is within the first threshold distance,is generated a third specific number of times corresponding to a(1_2)-nd range within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention or(ii) the second viewing event, in which the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is greater than the first thresholddistance and is less than the second threshold distance, is generated afourth specific number of times corresponding to a (2_2)-nd range withinthe first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention, the computingdevice 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 to generate the riskinformation on the lane change, the risk information including a degreeof danger corresponding to a second risk range.

Herein, (i) a median value of the (2_1)-st range may be greater thanthat of the (1_1)-st range, (ii) a median value of (2_2)-nd range may begreater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value of the(1_1)-st range may be equal to or greater than that of the (1_2)-ndrange, (iv) the median value of the (2_1)-st range may be equal to orgreater than that of the (2_2)-nd range, and (v) a median value of thefirst risk range may be equal to or greater than that of the second riskrange.

Further, on condition that the level of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) thefirst viewing event, in which the vertical distance between the centralaxis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot correspondingto the side mirror is within the first threshold distance, is generatedless than a fifth specific number of times corresponding to the (1_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention or(ii) the second viewing event, in which the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is greater than the first thresholddistance and is less than the second threshold distance, is generatedless than a sixth specific number of times corresponding to the (2_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention, thecomputing device instructs the LDW system to generate the riskinformation on the lane change, the risk information including a degreeof danger corresponding to a third risk range, and (2) on condition thatthe level of the lane into which the driver desires to change is the(k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) the first viewing event, inwhich the vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris within the first threshold distance, is generated less than a seventhspecific number of times corresponding to the (1_2)-nd range within thefirst threshold time from the point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) the second viewingevent, in which the vertical distance between the central axis of thevirtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the sidemirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is less than thesecond frequency distance, is generated less than an eighth specificnumber of times corresponding to the (2_2)-nd range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device 100 mayinstruct the LDW system 200 to generate the risk information on the lanechange, the risk information including a degree of danger within afourth risk range.

Herein, (i) the median value of the (2_1)-st range may be greater thanthat of the (1_1)-st range, (ii) the median value of (2_2)-nd range maybe greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value ofthe (1_1)-st range may be equal to or greater than that of the (1_2)-ndrange, (iv) the median value of the (2_1)-st range may be equal to orgreater than that of the (2_2)-nd range, (v) a median value of the thirdrisk range may be equal to or greater than that of the fourth riskrange, (vi) the median value of the fourth risk range may be greaterthan that of the second risk range, and (vii) the median value of thethird risk range may be equal to or greater than that of the first riskrange.

FIG. 5 is a drawing illustrating a type of a lane, e.g., a merged lane,among information collected by the LDW system in accordance with oneexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

On condition that the lane into which the driver desires to change is amerged lane as shown in FIG. 5, if the driver moves to the merged lane,danger of accident increases. Hence, at this time, the computing device100 may instruct the LDW system 200 to generate risk information on thelane change including a relatively high degree of danger. In othercases, namely, when the lane into which the driver desires to change ismerely a straight lane, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDWsystem 200 to generate risk information on the lane change including arelatively low degree of danger.

The scheme of generating risk information on the lane change byreferring to the types of lane markings was explained above.Hereinafter, a scheme of generating risk information on the lane changewill be explained by referring to information a set destination.

First of all, if a destination of a vehicle is inputted through UIprovided by the GPS module 300, information on the destination may bedelivered to the GPS module 300. The GPS module 300 may provide thedriver with a route to the destination.

Thereafter, the computing device 100 (1) may acquire potential intentionrelated to the lane change by referring to information on thedestination and a junction existing within a predetermined distance froma current location of the driver's vehicle and may determine theacquired potential intention as the information on the driver's lanechanging intention and (2) may instruct the LDW system to (i) collectthe information on the driving situation additionally including locationinformation on at least one specific lane for moving to the destination,(ii) determine a triggering spot where a lane change is to be started toenter the specific lane, and (iii) generate the risk information on thelane change on which a result of the determined triggering spot isreflected.

This scheme will be described in detail by referring to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a drawing illustrating a case in which a vehicle needs tochange lanes to move from a predetermined junction in a directiontowards the destination in accordance with one example embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 6, if the driver needs to turn left to go to thedestination while driving on a straight lane, it may be understood thatthe driver has a potential intention for changing lanes. Therefore, thecomputing device 100 may regard such potential intention as the driver'slane changing intention.

However, as illustrated in FIG. 6, if the driver changes the lanes inorder to change a course, the driver needs to change the lanes beforereaching the junction in many cases. For example, in order to move to alane where the driver can turn left, the driver needs to change lanesbefore reaching a solid line lane. Herein, changing the lanes meansmoving to a lane on the right side or a lane on the left side, andchanging the course means turning right, turning left, making a U-turn,etc.

Therefore, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 todetermine a triggering spot where a lane change is to be started toenter the specific lane by referring to location information of thespecific lane to be used for moving to the destination. Further, thecomputing device 100 may generate the risk information on the lanechange on which a result of the determined triggering spot is reflected.According to the scheme, the driver may receive the alarm of the LDWsystem so that the driver may safely enter the specific lane.

However, according to the scheme, if the drivers use routes other than aroute guided by the GPS module 300, unnecessary alarms may be generated.Therefore, the following additional algorithms may be used. First ofall, it is assumed that (i) a first probability group, which is a set ofprobabilities of test vehicles moving from the junction to thedestination through a first route, varies according to a distancebetween the junction and the current location, and includes firstsub-probabilities allocated to each of lanes, and (ii) a secondprobability group, which is a set of probabilities of the test vehiclesmoving from the junction to the destination through a second route,varies according to the distance between the junction and the currentlocation, and includes second sub-probabilities allocated to each oflanes, have been collected during a predetermined time.

The first probability group and the second probability group will bedescribed below by referring to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a drawing illustrating an example of generating an LDW alarmby using probability information allocated to each lane in accordancewith one example embodiment of the present disclosure.

First of all, in order to acquire the probability information as shownin FIG. 7, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 tocollect (I) the information on the driving situation additionallyincluding (i) location information on a first specific lane on which thetest vehicles for moving to the destination through the first route weredriving, the location information on the first specific lane varyingaccording to the distance between the junction and current locations ofthe test vehicles and (ii) location information on a second specificlane on which the test vehicles for moving to the destination throughthe second route were driving, the location information on the secondspecific lane varying according to the distance between the junction andthe current locations of the test vehicles, (II) the first probabilitygroup and (III) the second probability group.

As an example, each of probabilities shown in FIG. 7 is each of thesecond sub-probabilities in case each of sub-probabilities of the secondprobability group is higher than each of sub-probabilities of the firstprobability group. Referring to FIG. 7, when the vehicle is still faraway from the junction, even if the vehicle is not located on a lanewhere the driver can directly use the second route, the driver caneasily change lanes to use the second route, and thus it can bedetermined that it is highly probable that the vehicle will move to aright lane to use the second route. In the same situation, if thevehicle has not moved to the right lane even until getting close to thejunction, it can be determined that it is not probable that the vehiclewill move to the right lane to use the second route.

Thereafter, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 togenerate the risk information on the lane change including at least partof first risk information on lane change and second risk information onlane change, which are determined by referring to (i) real-time firstcomparison information between a current lane of the driver's vehicleand the first specific lane, (ii) real-time second comparisoninformation between the current lane of the driver's vehicle and thesecond specific lane, and (iii) the first probability group and thesecond probability group, by using real-time weight information given tothe first comparison information and the second comparison information.

Further, the computing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 togenerate the LDW alarm by referring to at least part of the first riskinformation on the lane change and the second risk information on thelane change.

This is for mainly generating the LDW alarm for a route having a highprobability of being selected by the driver by checking routes whichhave generally been selected by the drivers, which will be describedbelow by referring to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a drawing specifically illustrating a scheme of referring toprobability information allocated to each lane when there are aplurality of routes to the destination in accordance with one exampleembodiment of the present disclosure.

It is assumed that there are a first route of turning right at a firstjunction and a second route of going straight at the first junction andturning right at a second junction in order to go to the destination.Referring to FIG. 8, it can be seen that, for a predetermined past time,test vehicles have selected the second route that makes the right turnat the second junction with a 90 percent probability. It can also beseen that, at the time of selecting the second route, the probabilitythat the test vehicles will change to the right turn lane by 50 m beforereaching the second junction is 80 percent. At this time, if the driverdoes not change to the right turn lane at the first junction, thecomputing device 100 may instruct the LDW system 200 to generate arelatively weak LDW alarm. This is because the probability of selectingthe first route to make a right turn at the first junction is only 10percent and thus it cannot be said that the driver has a potentialintention of changing lanes. However, even if it is 50 m before reachingthe second junction after passing through the first junction, if thevehicle has not moved to the right turn lane, the LDW system 100 will beable to generate a relatively strong LDW alarm. This is because thepossibility of changing to the right turn lane before 50 m beforereaching the junction in order to make a right turn at the secondjunction is very high and thus it can be said that the driver has apotential intention of changing lanes.

Unlike the above example, if the probabilities of selecting the firstroute and the second route are 50%, respectively, the LDW alarm at thefirst junction may be stronger than that in the above example. Namely,the LDW alarm corresponding to the route having a high probability ofbeing selected will be stronger than that corresponding to the routehaving a low probability of being selected.

If a computing device performing such a method of generating the LDWalarm is mounted on a vehicle, car accidents occurring during a lanechange situation will be reduced by providing the LDW alarm toneighboring autonomous vehicles of level 4 and level 5. Also, the methodmay be used for ADAS, V2X or driver safety which are required to satisfylevel 4 and level 5 of autonomous vehicles.

The present disclosure has an effect of reducing an accident probabilityof the driver by generating the LDW alarm by referring to whether thedriver has sufficiently checked a side mirror of a side of a lane intowhich a driver desires to change.

The present disclosure has another effect of sending a warning signal tothe driver more efficiently by adjusting the intensity and the frequencyof the LDW alarm by referring to types of lanes.

The present disclosure has still another effect of guiding a safetriggering spot where a lane change is to be started to enter thespecific lane by generating the LDW alarm to the driver by referring todestination information and junction information on the GPS.

The embodiments of the present disclosure as explained above can beimplemented in a form of executable program command through a variety ofcomputer means recordable to computer readable media. The computerreadable media may include solely or in combination, program commands,data files, and data structures. The program commands recorded to themedia may be components specially designed for the present disclosure ormay be usable to a skilled human in a field of computer software.Computer readable media include magnetic media such as hard disk, floppydisk, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROM and DVD,magneto-optical media such as floptical disk and hardware devices suchas ROM, RAM, and flash memory specially designed to store and carry outprogram commands. Program commands include not only a machine languagecode made by a complier but also a high level code that can be used byan interpreter etc., which is executed by a computer. The aforementionedhardware device can work as more than a software module to perform theaction of the present disclosure and they can do the same in theopposite case.

As seen above, the present disclosure has been explained by specificmatters such as detailed components, limited embodiments, and drawings.They have been provided only to help more general understanding of thepresent disclosure. It, however, will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes and modification may be made from thedescription without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure as defined in the following claims.

Accordingly, the thought of the present disclosure must not be confinedto the explained embodiments, and the following patent claims as well aseverything including variations equal or equivalent to the patent claimspertain to the category of the thought of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for generating a lane departure warning(LDW) alarm by referring to information on a driving situation,comprising steps of: (a) a computing device, if a destination of adriver's vehicle has been inputted to a Global Positioning System(GPS)module included therein, instructing a lane departure warning(LDW)system (i) to acquire a potential intention related to a lane change byreferring to information on the destination and on a junction existingwithin a predetermined distance from a current location of the driver'svehicle and determines the acquired potential intention, (ii) to collectinformation on the driving situation including (ii-1) information onwhether a specific spot corresponding to a side mirror on a side of alane, into which the driver desires to change, belongs to a virtualviewing frustum of the driver and (ii-2) location information on atleast one specific lane moving to the destination, (iii) to determine atriggering spot where the lane change is to be started to enter thespecific lane by referring to the information on the driving situation,and (iv) to generate risk information on lane change, by referring tothe information on the driving situation and information on thetriggering spot; and (b) the computing device instructing the LDW systemto generate the LDW alarm by referring to the risk information on thelane change.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein, at the step of (a), oncondition that it is detected that (i) a first viewing event, in which avertical distance between a central axis of the virtual viewing frustumand the specific spot corresponding to the side mirror is within a firstthreshold distance, is generated a specific number of timescorresponding to a first range within a first threshold time from apoint of time of acquiring the information on the driver's lane changingintention or (ii) a second viewing event, in which a vertical distancebetween the central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specificspot corresponding to the side mirror exceeds the first thresholddistance and is within a second threshold distance, is generated acertain number of times corresponding to a second range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the risk information on the lane change, andwherein a median value of the second range is greater than that of thefirst range.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein, at the step of (a), thecomputing device instructs the LDW system to collect information on thedriving situation additionally including information on a roadsituation, and wherein, at the step of (b), the computing deviceinstructs the LDW system to adjust an intensity and a frequency of theLDW alarm by referring to the risk information on the lane change onwhich the information on the road situation is reflected.
 4. The methodof claim 3, wherein, at the step of (a), the information on the roadsituation includes information on shapes or colors of one or more lanemarkings located on at least one of both sides of the driver's vehicle,and wherein the computing device instructs the LDW system to (i)determine at least one type of the lanes by referring to the informationon the shapes or the colors of the lane markings and (ii) generate therisk information on the lane change on which information on thedetermined type of the lane markings is reflected.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein, at the step of (a), the computing device instructs theLDW system to set a degree of danger, included in the risk informationon the lane change when a classification of the lane markings of thelane into which the driver desires to change is a k-th level, to behigher than a degree of danger, included in the risk information on thelane change when the classification of the lane markings of the laneinto which the driver desires to change is a (k+1)-th level.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein, at the step of (a), (1) on condition thatthe classification of the lane markings of the lane into which thedriver desires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) afirst viewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated afirst specific number of times corresponding to a (1_1)-st range withina first threshold time from a point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a second viewing event,in which a vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris greater than the first threshold distance and is less than a secondthreshold distance, is generated a second specific number of timescorresponding to a (2_1)-st range within the first threshold time fromthe point of time of acquiring the information on the driver's lanechanging intention, the computing device instructs the LDW system togenerate the risk information on the lane change including a degree ofdanger corresponding to a first risk range, (2) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the (k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) afirst viewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated athird specific number of times corresponding to a (1_2)-nd range withinthe first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is lessthan the second threshold distance, is generated a fourth specificnumber of times corresponding to a (2_2)-nd range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the risk information on the lane change includinga degree of danger corresponding to a second risk range, and wherein (i)a median value of the (2_1)-st range is greater than that of the(1_1)-st range, (ii) a median value of (2_2)-nd range is greater thanthat of the (1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st rangeis equal to or greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the medianvalue of the (2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the(2_2)-nd range, and (v) a median value of the first risk range is equalto or greater than that of the second risk range.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein, at the step of (a), (1) on condition that the classificationof the lane markings of the lane into which the driver desires to changeis the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) the first viewing event,in which the vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris within the first threshold distance, is generated less than a fifthspecific number of times corresponding to the (1_1)-st range within thefirst threshold time from the point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) the second viewingevent, in which the vertical distance between the central axis of thevirtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the sidemirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is less than thesecond threshold distance, is generated less than a sixth specificnumber of times corresponding to the (2_1)-st range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the computing device instructs theLDW system to generate the risk information on the lane change includinga degree of danger within a third risk range, (2) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the (k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) thefirst viewing event, in which the vertical distance between the centralaxis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot correspondingto the side mirror is within the first threshold distance, is generatedless than a seventh specific number of times corresponding to the(1_2)-nd range within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention or(ii) the second viewing event, in which the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is greater than the first thresholddistance and is less than the second threshold distance, is generatedless than an eighth specific number of times corresponding to the(2_2)-nd range within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention, thecomputing device instructs the LDW system to generate the riskinformation on the lane change including a degree of danger within afourth risk range, and wherein (i) the median value of the (2_1)-strange is greater than that of the (1_1)-st range, (ii) the median valueof (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iii) themedian value of the (1_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that ofthe (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the (2_1)-st range is equalto or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range, (v) a median value of thethird risk range is equal to or greater than that of the fourth riskrange, (vi) the median value of the fourth risk range is greater thanthat of the second risk range, and (vii) the median value of the thirdrisk range is equal to or greater than that of the first risk range. 8.The method of claim 3, wherein, at the step of (a), the information onthe road situation includes types of lanes where the driver's vehicle islocated, and the computing device instructs the LDW system to determinea degree of danger when the driver changes the lane and to generate therisk information on the lane change including the degree of danger.
 9. Amethod for generating a lane departure warning (LDW) alarm by referringto information on a driving situation, comprising steps of: (a) acomputing device, on condition that (I) (i) a first probability group,which is a set of probabilities of test vehicles moving from thejunction to the destination through a first route, varies according to adistance between the junction and the current location, and includeseach of first sub-probabilities allocated to each of lanes, and (ii) asecond probability group, which is a set of probabilities of the testvehicles moving from the junction to the destination through a secondroute, varies according to a distance between the junction and thecurrent location, and includes each of second sub-probabilitiesallocated to each of lanes, have been collected during a predeterminedtime, and (II) the information on the driving situation additionallyincluding (i) location information on a first specific lane on which thetest vehicles for moving to the destination through the first route weredriving, the location information on the first specific lane varyingaccording to the distance between the junction and each of currentlocations of each of the test vehicles and (ii) location information ona second specific lane on which the test vehicles for moving to thedestination through the second route were driving, the locationinformation on the second specific lane varying according to thedistance between the junction and each of the current locations of eachof the test vehicles, have been collected, instructing a lane departurewarning (LDW) system to (i) acquire information on a driver's lanechanging intention by referring to information on a destination of thedriver's vehicle and a junction existing within a predetermined distancefrom a current location of the driver's vehicle, (ii) to collectinformation on the driving situation including information on whether aspecific spot corresponding to a side mirror on a side of a lane, intowhich the driver desires to change, belongs to a virtual viewing frustumof the driver and (iii) to generate in real time risk information onlane change, including at least part of first risk information on thelane change and second risk information on the lane change, which aredetermined by referring to (i) real-time first comparison informationbetween a current lane of the driver's vehicle and the first specificlane, (ii) real-time second comparison information between the currentlane of the driver's vehicle and the second specific lane, and (iii) thefirst probability group and the second probability group, by usingreal-time weight information given to the first comparison informationand the second comparison information, by referring to the informationon the driving situation; and (b) the computing device instructing theLDW system to generate the LDW alarm by referring to at least part ofthe first risk information on the lane change and the second riskinformation on the lane change.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein, atthe step of (a), the information on the driver's lane changing intentionis acquired by referring to information on at least one directionindicator operated by the driver.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein, atthe step of (a), the virtual viewing frustum is generated by referringto at least one image acquired by a camera attached to the side mirror.12. A computing device for generating a lane departure warning (LDW)alarm by referring to information on a driving situation, comprising: atleast one memory that stores instructions; and at least one processorconfigured to execute the instructions to perform processes of: (I) if adestination of a driver's vehicle has been inputted to a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) module included therein, instructing a lanedeparture warning(LDW) system (i) to acquire a potential intentionrelated to a lane change by referring to information on the destinationand on a junction existing within a predetermined distance from acurrent location of the driver's vehicle and determines the acquiredpotential intention, (ii) to collect information on the drivingsituation including (ii-1) information on whether a specific spotcorresponding to a side mirror on a side of a lane, into which thedriver desires to change, belongs to a virtual viewing frustum of thedriver and (ii-2) location information on at least one specific lanemoving to the destination, (iii) to determine a triggering spot wherethe lane change is to be started to enter the specific lane by referringto the information on the driving situation, and (iv) to generate riskinformation on lane change, by referring to the information on thedriving situation and information on the triggering spot (II)instructing the LDW system to generate the LDW alarm by referring to therisk information on the lane change.
 13. The computing device of claim12, wherein, at the process of (I), on condition that it is detectedthat (i) a first viewing event, in which a vertical distance between acentral axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is within a first threshold distance,is generated a specific number of times corresponding to a first rangewithin a first threshold time from a point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror exceeds the first threshold distance and is within a secondthreshold distance, is generated a certain number of times correspondingto a second range within the first threshold time from the point of timeof acquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention,the processor instructs the LDW system to generate the risk informationon the lane change, and wherein a median value of the second range isgreater than that of the first range.
 14. The computing device of claim12, wherein, at the process of (I), the processor instructs the LDWsystem to collect information on the driving situation additionallyincluding information on a road situation, and wherein, at the processof (II), the processor instructs the LDW system to adjust an intensityand a frequency of the LDW alarm by referring to the risk information onthe lane change on which the information on the road situation isreflected.
 15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein, at the processof (I), the information on the road situation includes information onshapes or colors of one or more lane markings located on at least one ofboth sides of the driver's vehicle, and wherein the processor instructsthe LDW system to (i) determine at least one type of the lanes byreferring to the information on the shapes or the colors of the lanemarkings and (ii) generate the risk information on the lane change onwhich information on the determined type of the lane markings isreflected.
 16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein, at the processof (I), the processor instructs the LDW system to set a degree ofdanger, included in the risk information on the lane change when aclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is a k-th level, to be higher than a degree of danger,included in the risk information on the lane change when theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is a (k+1)-th level.
 17. The computing device of claim16, wherein, at the process of (I), (1) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) a firstviewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated a firstspecific number of times corresponding to a (1_1)-st range within afirst threshold time from a point of time of acquiring the informationon the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a second viewing event,in which a vertical distance between the central axis of the virtualviewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirroris greater than the first threshold distance and is less than a secondthreshold distance, is generated a second specific number of timescorresponding to a (2_1)-st range within the first threshold time fromthe point of time of acquiring the information on the driver's lanechanging intention, the processor instructs the LDW system to generatethe risk information on the lane change including a degree of dangercorresponding to a first risk range, (2) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the (k+1)-th level, if it is detected that (i) afirst viewing event, in which a vertical distance between a central axisof the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding tothe side mirror is within a first threshold distance, is generated athird specific number of times corresponding to a (1_2)-nd range withinthe first threshold time from the point of time of acquiring theinformation on the driver's lane changing intention or (ii) a secondviewing event, in which a vertical distance between the central axis ofthe virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot corresponding to theside mirror is greater than the first threshold distance and is lessthan the second threshold distance, is generated a fourth specificnumber of times corresponding to a (2_2)-nd range within the firstthreshold time from the point of time of acquiring the information onthe driver's lane changing intention, the processor instructs the LDWsystem to generate the risk information on the lane change including adegree of danger corresponding to a second risk range, and wherein (i) amedian value of the (2_1)-st range is greater than that of the (1_1)-strange, (ii) a median value of (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the(1_2)-nd range, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st range is equal toor greater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range,and (v) a median value of the first risk range is equal to or greaterthan that of the second risk range.
 18. The computing device of claim17, wherein, at the process of (I), (1) on condition that theclassification of the lane markings of the lane into which the driverdesires to change is the k-th level, if it is detected that (i) thefirst viewing event, in which the vertical distance between the centralaxis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spot correspondingto the side mirror is within the first threshold distance, is generatedless than a fifth specific number of times corresponding to the (1_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention or(ii) the second viewing event, in which the vertical distance betweenthe central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and the specific spotcorresponding to the side mirror is greater than the first thresholddistance and is less than the second threshold distance, is generatedless than a sixth specific number of times corresponding to the (2_1)-strange within the first threshold time from the point of time ofacquiring the information on the driver's lane changing intention, theprocessor instructs the LDW system to generate the risk information onthe lane change including a degree of danger within a third risk range,(2) on condition that the classification of the lane markings of thelane into which the driver desires to change is the (k+1)-th level, ifit is detected that (i) the first viewing event, in which the verticaldistance between the central axis of the virtual viewing frustum and thespecific spot corresponding to the side mirror is within the firstthreshold distance, is generated less than a seventh specific number oftimes corresponding to the (1_2)-nd range within the first thresholdtime from the point of time of acquiring the information on the driver'slane changing intention or (ii) the second viewing event, in which thevertical distance between the central axis of the virtual viewingfrustum and the specific spot corresponding to the side mirror isgreater than the first threshold distance and is less than the secondthreshold distance, is generated less than an eighth specific number oftimes corresponding to the (2_2)-nd range within the first thresholdtime from the point of time of acquiring the information on the driver'slane changing intention, the processor instructs the LDW system togenerate the risk information on the lane change including a degree ofdanger within a fourth risk range, and wherein (i) the median value ofthe (2_1)-st range is greater than that of the (1_1)-st range, (ii) themedian value of (2_2)-nd range is greater than that of the (1_2)-ndrange, (iii) the median value of the (1_1)-st range is equal to orgreater than that of the (1_2)-nd range, (iv) the median value of the(2_1)-st range is equal to or greater than that of the (2_2)-nd range,(v) a median value of the third risk range is equal to or greater thanthat of the fourth risk range, (vi) the median value of the fourth riskrange is greater than that of the second risk range, and (vii) themedian value of the third risk range is equal to or greater than that ofthe first risk range.
 19. The computing device of claim 14, wherein, atthe process of (I), the information on the road situation includes typesof lanes where the driver's vehicle is located, and the processorinstructs the LDW system to determine a degree of danger when the driverchanges the lane and to generate the risk information on the lane changeincluding the degree of danger.
 20. A computing device for generating alane departure warning (LDW) alarm by referring to information on adriving situation, comprising: at least one memory that storesinstructions; and at least one processor configured to execute theinstructions to perform processes of: (a) on condition that (I) (i) afirst probability group, which is a set of probabilities of testvehicles moving from the junction to the destination through a firstroute, varies according to a distance between the junction and thecurrent location, and includes each of first sub-probabilities allocatedto each of lanes, and (ii) a second probability group, which is a set ofprobabilities of the test vehicles moving from the junction to thedestination through a second route, varies according to a distancebetween the junction and the current location, and includes each ofsecond sub-probabilities allocated to each of lanes, have been collectedduring a predetermined time, and (II) the information on the drivingsituation additionally including (i) location information on a firstspecific lane on which the test vehicles for moving to the destinationthrough the first route were driving, the location information on thefirst specific lane varying according to the distance between thejunction and each of current locations of each of the test vehicles and(ii) location information on a second specific lane on which the testvehicles for moving to the destination through the second route weredriving, the location information on the second specific lane varyingaccording to the distance between the junction and each of the currentlocations of each of the test vehicles, have been collected, instructinga lane departure warning (LDW) system to (i) acquire information on adriver's lane changing intention by referring to information on adestination of the driver's vehicle and a junction existing within apredetermined distance from a current location of the driver's vehicle,(ii) to collect information on the driving situation includinginformation on whether a specific spot corresponding to a side mirror ona side of a lane, into which the driver desires to change, belongs to avirtual viewing frustum of the driver and (iii) to generate in real timerisk information on lane change, including at least part of first riskinformation on the lane change and second risk information on the lanechange, which are determined by referring to (i) real-time firstcomparison information between a current lane of the driver's vehicleand the first specific lane, (ii) real-time second comparisoninformation between the current lane of the driver's vehicle and thesecond specific lane, and (iii) the first probability group and thesecond probability group, by using real-time weight information given tothe first comparison information and the second comparison information,by referring to the information on the driving situation; and (b)instructing the LDW system to generate the LDW alarm by referring to atleast part of the first risk information on the lane change and thesecond risk information on the lane change.
 21. The computing device ofclaim 12, wherein, at the process of (I), the information on thedriver's lane changing intention is acquired by referring to informationon at least one direction indicator operated by the driver.
 22. Thecomputing device of claim 12, wherein, at the process of (I), thevirtual viewing frustum is generated by referring to at least one imageacquired by a camera attached to the side mirror.